Q&A for How to Write With a Calligraphy Pen

Start by holding the calligraphy pen between your thumb and index finger, letting it rest on your middle finger. Most calligraphy pens have a divot near the nib, which helps your fingers find a comfortable and stable position. Also, make sure that your fingers are close to the nib because this enhances your overall control and precision. 

The pen nib should be held to the paper with the concave side down. This makes sure that ink does not leak from the pen.

Calligraphy pens are completely different from both of those pens. Ball point pens and gel pens can be used to create a calligraphy-like font if you thicken your upward strokes. However, you can't learn the art of calligraphy without a calligraphy pen.

It can, but the bumpiness may be hard to write on.

To make thick lines with a fountain pen, press firmly while the nib remains flat with the plastic area down.

Nothing, it takes time. Hold your pen straight up and down. Gently shake it, keeping to point off the paper and not so high that ink splatters. Also, place the tiniest amount of water on the tip of the fountain pen.

Maybe, but if the paper is of low quality, the ink may bleed or run. Invest in good quality and ink-friendly paper or in a sketchbook at your local craft store for the best ink output.

If your pen has a separate ink cartridge that must be put in the pen, twist the cartridge around and push firmly but softly down (do NOT lift up, unless you want a spill).

You can buy them either online or at your local art store.

If it is serious, water can be used to diffuse the ink. Another recommendation is to open the pen and wash it out if you don't care for the ink.

Writing calligraphy with a fountain pen takes many hours of practice; you have to learn how to turn and manipulate the nib to change the width of your strokes. You can find tons of tutorials online, either on YouTube or other websites, that will teach you how to write calligraphy with your fountain pen.

No, you can't.

It shouldn't leak at all. The ink should stay in the pen unless you have one of the calligraphy pens that you dip in ink. Then I would make sure that you don't have excess ink before you stop writing.

Don't knock the bottle of ink over. Use glass bottles to store ink. Glass is heavier and is harder to knock over.

You can use any ink that is made for dip pens, as well as fountain pen ink. One of the best inks for dip pens is acrylic-based ink. It's diluted with water, and you can add more water to make the ink flow more easily.

Try these things: First, insert the cartridge until you hear a pop. Once you do, try twisting the cartridge while inside the barrel, both clockwise and counter-clockwise. Then, try shaking the pen firmly but not too hard. If none of the above work, try another cartridge. If no new cartridges work, find a better pen/nib.

Place your paper so that the top or shorter edge of the paper is vertical and the long edge is horizontal.(If the paper is lined, the lines will run vertically.) Use a nib that is angled, rather than flat across the top. These are designed for lefties. You will write from top to bottom; that is, across the the top edge of the paper which is perpendicular to the table top.

Try pressing down on your pen a little harder and write a little slower. This will allow for more ink to come out and should thicken up your lines.

You can treat this as if a fountain fen and a felt pen had a baby - because that’s what it is. Calligraphic markers are not the best for calligraphy, but they do produce some nice dark washes of ink. They are meant to be used for their tip shape to almost simulate the look of a writing chisel or stylus. They’re good for practice, to help you understand strokes before learning the full technique.

It may be due to using old and dry ink on the nib. In that case, wash the nib off, soak it in warm water for a couple of minutes, and clean it well. You may also be holding the pen from the opposite side; remember, the face of the nib must be pointed towards your writing direction. Finally, the nib could be holding more ink than it needs, in which case you can partially dip the nib in ink and remove any extra ink by touching bottle walls with the nib.

You can attach a weight to the end of the writing instrument and practice writing with your arm. The same method is used in the Japanese art of calligraphy (shūji), where beginners follow the same.

Use felt-tip pens. You also could use calligraphy markers, as these are made for beginners.

You can adjust the thickness. If it feels like it is about to break then you're pressing too hard. Be sure that the concave side is down and that your pen isn't clogged. To make thick strokes go at a medium speed and apply slightly more pressure than a normal pen/pencil. To make thin strokes go at a normal speed and apply a normal amount of pressure than a regular pen/pencil.

Sometimes authors might, but usually, authors just type their book or write their book with a standard pen or pencil. Calligraphy is usually used for poems or shorter pieces of work. Of course, if a calligraphy pen helps you to write, by all means use one!

Try a felt tip pen to begin with. Then, once you get the hang of calligraphy, try using a fountain brush or dip pen. There are also specialty pens, as outlined above, which make it easy for beginners.

You can use fountain pen or a felt-tip pen if you're a beginner and work your way toward using dip pens and then brush pens.

Mirror the motions that you see here. You can also check out some other online calligraphy courses that can show you what to do left-handed.

Typically, yes. You don't want to have several slightly-used cartridges lying around. They can get messy, and you might get confused about which ones you can use and which ones you can't.

The nib may not be made for the fountain pen that you have bought. Check the nib for defects. You also might consider putting a very small amount of oil on the nib that will be sliding into the fountain pen.

No, this would not work unless you tried to draw several lines to make it thick and only one line to make it look thin. In general, it just won't look like calligraphy but like thick pen lines. Calligraphy pens are not expensive, try saving up for one.